March 10, 2016

William LeoGrande, The Huffington Post

The Florida Republican primary on March 15 is Marco Rubio's last chance to salvage his sinking campaign. If Donald Trump beats Rubio is his home state, the freshman senator is finished. No doubt Rubio hopes that his Cuban American heritage will help him wrack up an overwhelming majority among the state's most reliably Republican constituency. But, ironically, Rubio's strident opposition to President Barack Obama's opening to Cuba may backfire, and prove to be his downfall.

On December 17, 2014, when Obama announced his intention to normalize relations with Cuba, Rubio's reaction, like that of most Republican presidential hopefuls, was predictably scathing. "This president is the single worst negotiator we have had in the White House in my lifetime," Rubio declared. Obama gave the Cuban government "everything it asked for and received no assurances of any advances of democracy and freedom." He went on to call the opening to Cuba "absurd...outrageous and disgraceful."

Rubio caustic commentary garnered considerable press attention and raised his profile among the crowded field of Republican contenders-- so he kept at it. When the White House announced that Obama would travel to Cuba later this month, Rubio hit the same themes."A year and two months after the opening of Cuba, the Cuban government remains as oppressive as ever," he said. Obama's trip would have "disastrous consequences."...